The present invention relates to launchers for aircraft and, more particularly, to compact lightweight mobile aircraft launchers capable of quick setup.
Mobile launchers are known for launching lightweight aircraft, especially unmanned aircraft, but have the drawback of being too large and heavy and too slow or difficult to set up for launch.
By the present invention, an exceptionally lightweight and compact mobile aircraft launcher comprises a trailer which can be towed by a lightweight vehicle, such as the Hgh Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The launcher is capable of launching aircraft having weights of as much as 400 pounds or more. The launcher can be quickly and easily changed from a folded, transporting condition to a deployed, launching condition at a level attitude by one person.
The structure which gives the aircraft launcher of the present invention the foregoing advantages includes a launch beam having multiple beam sections hinged to one another. When deployed for launch, one beam section remains fixed to the trailer, while another beam section folds forward and two other beam sections fold rearward. Jacks provided at the leading and trailing ends of the trailer support the trailer and the launch beam at the proper attitudes for transport, deployment and launch. The jacks are retractable for transporting the trailer and are adjustable to move the trailer between the proper attitudes for deployment and the proper attitude for launch. Beam sections are secured on the trailer in their folded positions by stowage straps.
The jacks are adjustable in height to change the attitude at which they support the trailer and the launch beam. For deployment of the launch beam, the jacks are adjusted to support the launch beam in a horizontal attitude so that the beam sections can be pivoted about their hinges without gravity tending to make them swing or increasing the force needed to pivot them. After the beam sections have been pivoted to their colinear positions and locked there, the jacks are adjusted to support the launch beam in an inclined attitude (approximately 10 degrees) for launch. When the launch beam is in a horizontal attitude, the launch beam is no more than about 5 feet above a ground surface supporting the trailer so that the beam sections can be pivoted by a person standing on the ground surface.
An electrical power unit including gel cell batteries and a charging system is mounted on the trailer for powering an aircraft starter, providing ground power for the UAV and powering the trailer mounted hydraulic system. The trailer mounted hydraulic system consists of a fluid reservoir, control valves, a launch cylinder with integrated accumulator, a latch release cylinder, a nitrogen tank and an electrically driven hydraulic pump. Equipment for arresting a landing aircraft is releasably secured to the trailer, the arresting equipment including an arresting pendant to extend across a runway, energy absorbers to which ends of the pendant are connected, stakes to hold the absorbers in place, and a sledge hammer for driving and removing the stakes.